The Carriage House

On one of the largest lots in Pacific Heights, a quietly unassuming carriage house becomes a welcoming, restorative city retreat. Overshadowed by an impressive Italianate Victorian landmark dating back to an 1870s dairy that occupied the property, this 1920s carriage house was left subject to the elements. Taking on the challenge of turning this dilapidated structure into a modern retreat, Butler Armsden used a palette of warm, dark wood and crisp textiles to lend the space, conceived as an extension of the family’s living room, an air of comfortable easiness. Beyond these interiors, a generous deck and staircase link the main drawing room to a mature garden, protected from the street by rows leafy, frondy trees. Amidst these plants, an outdoor shower and hot tub materialize what lies at the core of the space’s essence: the ability to provide a large garden oasis within, but separate from, the bustling city.